Evologic

Evologic Technologies GmbH operates as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on microbial fermentation. Founded in 2016 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Vienna's Institute of Chemical Engineering, the company initially developed technologies to enhance productivity in pharmaceutical manufacturing. The founding team, led by CEO Wieland Reichelt, a molecular biologist by training, later pivoted to address challenges in the agricultural sector after observing a reluctance in the pharmaceutical industry to adopt new upstream technologies.

The company's core business is providing reliable contract development and manufacturing for companies with microbial products that are difficult to produce and stabilize. Evologic’s business model is structured around three main service pillars: Foundry, which creates manufacturing technologies for enhanced product quality; Scale, which offers rapid industrial process development and pilot quantities; and Boost, which focuses on optimizing manufacturing costs through a network of producers. This approach targets key barriers in the biologicals market, namely product quality, development speed, and cost. The company makes money by offering these specialized services to its clients, which range from startups to large corporations in the agricultural and biotechnology industries. Evologic does not sell directly to end-users like farmers but collaborates with large-scale distributors.

Evologic’s key technological capability is a proprietary fermentation process, described as 'pseudo solid-state fermentation', designed to produce a wide range of fungal species in a scalable, cost-effective, and contaminant-free manner. This technology enables the cultivation of microbes previously considered 'un-culturable' and transforms them into stable, effective active ingredients. The company offers comprehensive services from lab-scale process optimization to industrial-scale manufacturing and formulation, including techniques like freeze-drying and encapsulation to ensure maximum product shelf life. Significant milestones include a 2020 partnership with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) to commercialize a biological alternative to glyphosate and a 2022 agreement with Calyxt to scale the production of its plant-based ingredients. The Vienna-based company has secured funding through multiple grant and venture capital rounds from investors including ASKUR Invest, BayWa Venture, and the European Innovation Council.

Keywords: microbial fermentation, contract manufacturing, biomanufacturing, ag-biologicals, fermentation technology, CDMO, agricultural biotech, Wieland Reichelt, microbial stabilization, biopesticides, biostimulants, fungal fermentation, pseudo solid-state fermentation, TU Wien spin-off, process scale-up, formulation development, biological active ingredients, sustainable agriculture, contract development, microbial products